Tony Stewart returns to racing this weekend, likely in hopes of a return to a little normalcy in his world.

The race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, though, will be far from normal.

Stewart, who was involved in the tragic accident that killed 20-year-old driver Kevin Ward on Aug. 9, will have the focus of the outside world on him. The racing world will try to let him race, but just the number of people coming up to shake his hand or offer encouragement could be exhausting by the time he gets in his racecar late Friday afternoon.

The outside world will take notice in a big way, especially on Friday, when he makes his public appearance since the accident. His first news conference or comments on his return will be international news.

It’s not every day that a driver comes back from missing three races after being involved in a crash that killed another competitor. What makes this even more different is that the 20-year-old Ward had gotten out of his car and and walked onto the track before getting struck and killed by Stewart’s car at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park.

Although authorities have not revealed any facts that would support probable cause for criminal charges, the investigation is ongoing. So here is a driver who possibly could face criminal charges — though it appears unlikely — now racing at NASCAR’s highest level.

NASCAR won’t keep him out of racing until the investigation is complete, but it does have a decision to make — will it grant him a waiver of the rule that a driver must either qualify or race each weekend to be eligible for the Chase? NASCAR can’t let him race without making a decision because what if he wins at Atlanta or the following week at Richmond? The teams need to know NASCAR's decision before he gets in the car.

But beyond the competition, there are many questions people have for Stewart.

Only Stewart truly knows what he saw and what he was thinking that night. He should tell everyone as much as he can. The tragedy has been dissected, and he needs to tell as much of his side as possible, giving context to what everyone has seen on video. This is assuming that he didn’t do anything criminal, which we assume he didn’t admit to or he already would have been charged.

He should let people know if he has reached out to the Ward family or if lawyers have forbidden him from doing so, and how the potential for legal action has forced him to not do things he normally would do in this situation.

He should let people know what he has been doing the last few weeks — how he has handled the grieving process and why this week is the right weekend for him to return.

As a crisis expert told Sporting News in the week after the accident, he needs to be honest in what he says, and he needs to be himself. Sure, there will be the biting, fiery part of him that might want to snap at some questions. But he needs the compassionate side of him to come through as well.

He needs to be prepared for the annoyance of the spotlight, something he truly detests and that easily frustrates him — he hates those things that can distract him and his team from doing its job.

The cameras likely will stick around for at least his first practice, and they will make him feel claustrophobic walking from his hauler to the car. He could have security or a police escort, but he risks it looking more like a perp walk than a football coach walking off the field with the cops clearing the way.

It is not going to be an easy weekend. But considering the hell he has been through in the last few weeks, he should have the strength to handle it.

If he doesn’t have that strength, he shouldn’t come back. If he is going to let those who say he should be in jail frustrate him or is worried about a camera in his face, he shouldn’t come back. If he has a major feeling left of guilt, he shouldn’t come back.

He’s coming back for one of the toughest weekends of his racing career. The only somewhat comforting thing is that it can’t be any worse than what Stewart, Ward's family and those at Canandaigua went through three weeks ago.